Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

TYLER, Bonnie

(b Gaynor Hopkins, 8 June '53, Skewen, South Wales) UK female vocalist. Infl. by Motown music of her youth, entered talent contest at 17, won, turned pro; club background led to wide-ranging style apparent in later work; sang with local soul group Mumbles before songwriter/ producers Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe signed her up. Surgery for troublesome throat nodules '76 left her with distinctive husky sound apparent on that year's "Lost In France', UK no. 9, followed with similar "More Than A Lover' (top 30), "It's A Heartache' (no. 4 UK, USA no. 3), all ballads in gentle country-rock mode. The World Starts Tonight '77 was on RCA in UK, Chrysalis in USA; It's A Heartache '78 was a top 20 LP USA on RCA, but Diamond Cut '79 did not make the top 100 albums, Goodbye To The Island '81 did not chart at all. She approached Meat Loaf prod./writer Jim Steinman that year, who assembled crack session players e.g. Rick Derringer, E Street Band's Max Weinberg, Roy Bittan etc to record top 5 Faster Than The Speed Of Night '83 on CBS/Columbia, with material from Creedence, Blue Oyster Cult as well as his own (title track derived from his soundtrack music for Small Circle Of Friends). Steinman employed the same neo-Spector wall-of-sound approach that Todd Rundgren had used for Meat Loaf, down to male-female counterpoint on "Total Eclipse Of The Heart' (USA/UK no. 1 '83; male voice Meat Loaf sideman Rory Dodd); Steinman and Tyler repeated success with "Holding Out For A Hero' (no. 2 UK '85); she had duetted with Shakin' Stevens '84 on old Dinah Washington/ Brook Benton hit "A Rockin' Good Way' (no. 5), now with Rundgren on "Loving You's A Dirty Job But Somebody's Gotta Do It' late '85. Her second career echoed the first: second LP with Steinman Secret Dreams And Forbidden Fire '86 did make the top 100 albums USA; Notes From America '89 did not chart. Her alluring husky tones similar to Kim Carnes' had many fans but in two careers she did others' bidding; she needed a mind of her own. She sang on Mike Oldfield's Islands '88.